Personal Finance

Bad bet for seniors

Older Americans can be vulnerable to gambling's allure, but they find it's hard to recover the loss

The 70-year-old Dallas man knows all too well the highs and lows of gambling.

Once he won $1 million playing blackjack at a casino in Lake Tahoe.

Three hours later, he’d lost it all.

“I had a million win, already had it in the [cashier’s] cage, already had it in the bank,” he said. “It wasn’t enough. I thought of something else I probably needed the money for and lost it all.”

That was 10 years ago. While he’s been “almost clean” ever since, the businessman said his problem gambling dug into his retirement savings.

WHAT IS PROBLEM GAMBLING?

» Problem gambling is a progressive disorder in which an individual has a psychological preoccupation and urge to gamble. This results in excessive gambling, the outcome of which is the loss of time, money and self-esteem.

» The gambling can progress to a point at which it compromises, disrupts and ultimately destroys the gambler’s personal life, family relationships and vocational pursuits. These problems in turn lead to intensification of the gambling behavior.

» The principle features of problem gambling are emotional dependence on gambling, loss of control and interference with normal functioning.

SOURCE: Nevada Council on Problem Gambling

“I just took money and bonuses and everything else to pay off gambling debts,” he said.

For some seniors, gambling can be a bad bet against their retirement. The consequences of problem gambling can be devastating financially and emotionally because many seniors live on fixed incomes.

“If they begin to gamble too much and they’re losing money they can’t afford to lose, seniors don’t have another lifetime ahead of them to recoup those losses,” said Carol O’Hare, executive director of the Nevada Council on Problem Gambling in Las Vegas.

“Very often, we’re talking about a group of people who have worked their entire life with a plan to take care of themselves in their retirement,” O’Hare said. “We’re talking about people who had successful careers, invested their money. They have retirement income savings. They’ve planned and then they’re losing the savings, they’re losing the retirement income and they’re taking out a second mortgage on the home that was paid off 20 years ago.

“Suddenly at the age of 70, they’re in the same financial stress that somebody in their 40s would be overwhelmed by.”

The Nevada Council on Problem Gambling defines problem gambling as “a progressive disorder in which an individual has a psychological preoccupation and urge to gamble.” It says gambling can progress to a point at which it “compromises, disrupts and ultimately destroys the gambler’s personal life, family relationships and vocational pursuits.”

Gambling experts say it’s hard to get a clear picture of the rates of problem gambling among seniors. That’s because “researchers have sampled different age groups in different locations using different methods,” said Lia Nower, director of the Center for Gambling Studies at Rutgers University.

But, she said, “participation among seniors in gambling has increased since the ’70s, and whenever you increase participation, then you’re going to have a higher percentage of people who develop problems.”

Lonely, too much time

This much is clear: Seniors are vulnerable to problem gambling for several reasons, including loneliness, time on their hands, access to money and casinos, and greater disposable income.

The casino industry also makes it easy for many seniors to come to their establishments by helping arrange transportation and comping their hotel rooms, meals and show tickets if they’re high-rollers.

WARNING SIGNS OF PROBLEM GAMBLING

1. Exceeding the amount of money budgeted for gambling

2. Losing time from work, school or family activities because of gambling

3. Repeated failed attempts to stop or control gambling

4. Borrowing money to gamble or pay gambling debts

5. Gambling to escape worry or trouble

6. Neglecting self-care and care of family to gamble

7. Gambling more money to try to win back losses

8. Selling or pawning possessions to get money to gamble

9. Lying about the amount of time and money spent gambling

10. Feelings of hopelessness, depression or suicide as a result of gambling

Nevertheless, the people who treat problem gamblers said casinos can’t be blamed for gambling addictions.

“I don’t think they have a factory designed to create problem gamblers,” said Robert Hunter, founder of the Problem Gambling Center in Las Vegas, which treats gambling addicts.

“All addictions are biological disorders,” he said. “If you give an alcoholic a drink and a nonalcoholic a drink, there’s a very dramatic difference in what their brain does, a very dramatic difference in these levels of dopamine. That appears to be true for gambling. My patients, when they gamble, their brains essentially look like an alcoholic who’s just had a drink.”

The gambling industry acknowledges that seniors can succumb to problem gambling because of circumstances in their lives.

“It is clear older people are at risk for a lot of things because of loneliness, because of being on fixed incomes, because of loss of friends and family,” said Christine Reilly, senior research director at the National Center for Responsible Gaming. The center is the affiliated charity of the American Gaming Association, which represents the casino industry. Its main funding comes from gaming companies and suppliers.

“It’s an important population to watch because over time, they could become more vulnerable,” Reilly said. “But at this point in time, the research ... doesn’t support the fact that they’re at more risk than their counterparts under 65.”

Of course, not every senior who visits a casino is a problem gambler.

“There are some aspects of gambling that can be healthy for seniors,” said O’Hare of the Nevada Council on Problem Gambling. “It requires them to be mentally alert. When they’re at a video poker machine, it’s hand-eye coordination and being mentally engaged in the activity.

“So the gambling itself isn’t the issue. It’s the risks that gambling may bring into the senior’s life because of the changing circumstances of their life.”

As long as a senior’s gambling doesn’t get out of hand, “it’s just a social activity and it’s not creating any greater consequence or harm,” O’Hare said. “It’s no different than bowling or baseball.”

But once the gambling “becomes, in essence, the crutch … then we’re moving into a type of gambling behavior that is not at all healthy,” she said.

The gambling rush

The 70-year-old Dallas gambler said the rush comes “when you place the highest bet you could ever imagine, where it’s really going to put you in jeopardy. It’s just a combination of the rush, the endorphins that your body secretes. You could fly over the casino, you’re so high.”